


The Pressure to be Perfect

by ShadowsintheClouds



Series: Short Marvel Fics and gifts [15]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, DO NOT COPY, Eating Disorders, F/M, Getting Together, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Insecure Tony Stark, M/M, Misunderstood Tony Stark, Past Child Abuse, Starvation, Therapy, They're alright in the end, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs Sleep, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, he's a right dick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-06 00:57:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21217919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowsintheClouds/pseuds/ShadowsintheClouds
Summary: Tony’s childhood wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows and the effects followed him into adulthood. Tony thought he was getting better. He really did. But things change and the world just won’t let him have a break. Pairing: Stony. TW Eating disorder, Child abuse.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Elenduen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elenduen/gifts).

> For Elenduen who requested Tony fighting an eating disorder that was brought on by the pressure to be perfect. I now give you a big “FUCK YOU!” to Howard Stark, the media, and SHIELD for being dicks. Enjoy. 
> 
> Disclaimer. I am not an expert on eating disorders. I’m just going off of things I’ve read. If you have an eating disorder or mental illness please seek help if it is safe for you to do so.

If anyone had bothered to look into Tony Stark’s past what had happened would have been obvious. If anyone had bothered to look past the masks the man hid behind then maybe things wouldn’t have gotten as far as they did. If anyone had bothered to treat Tony with decency then maybe things would have been ok.

Let’s start from the beginning.

To understand how this all started we need to go back to Tony’s childhood. You might think that being born into riches was a sure-fire way into having an amazing childhood and becoming a spoiled brat. That wasn’t the case at all for Tony. He was mostly raised by the family butler, Edwin Jarvis. Now, Jarvis loved Tony like his own, but he couldn’t always be there. And when Jarvis wasn’t there then Tony’s care fell back into the hands of his mother and father.

Tony had always loved his mother. When she wasn’t too busy doing business with other rich wives or panning parties to notice that Tony existed, she would teach him Italian and how to play the piano. Though those times were few and far between, Tony cherished them. In his mind, Maria Stark was the best.

The same could not be said about Howard Stark.

The first memory Tony had of his father was when he was two years old. Howard had been drunk, Tony had dared to exist, he got hit. And it didn’t stop until the day Howard died. Howard always expected Tony to be doing the impossible from a young age. But even when Tony made and did things that no child his age should be able to do it was never enough. The burns and old scars on his hands were testament enough to this. 

Tony was never good enough. He was useless, repulsive, annoying, lazy. He’d been told that enough. In Howard’s home, you only got food if you were useful. Tony often went days without food until Jarvis was able to sneak him something. The situation definitely stunted his growth. When Tony was unceremoniously shipped off to boarding school at the tender age of 6 surrounded by kids years older them himself, well, that was the first time that Tony was actually eating regularly. He wasn’t eating a lot but he was still eating.

And that where this whole problem started. With an abusive father and scarred hands.

MIT was better. Tony had gotten used to eating more and more at this point. He was still a scrawny little thing with big eyes and fluffy hair, but he was less pale and looked healthier. But still, Tony didn’t eat great at MIT. Pizza, noodles, alcohol, and too many croissants from the local bakery don’t make for a healthy diet.

Only when Howard was dead and Tony was on his own did things improve. He had appearances to keep up and he couldn’t do that if he looked half dead from hunger. He sort of learned how to cook. Well, Tony could cook Italian food and some stir-fry, but he was trying ok! The trash can tasted most of Tony’s early attempts that’s for sure. 

So, Tony got better. He was mostly healthier other than the alcohol addiction that he was trying his best to fight. (Tony blamed Howard for that one. Who in their right mind forces a small child to drink whiskey?) Things were good. Afghanistan had been a nightmare and Tony almost fell into the old habits of his childhood. There were days when Tony tried to deny himself any food until the work was done but Yinson put a stop to that pretty quick. But other then the three months of hell in that cave, Tony had been getting better when it came to food. Sometimes Howard’s voice would sound in his head yelling all sorts of nasty things, but Tony had it under control. He was doing great.

Well, he was. But then the Avengers formed. 

What followed were some of the worst months of Tony’s life. There was a whole lot of give and take. The Avengers moved into the tower, but Pepper left him for good. Tony had people who could, in theory, watch his back, but he never got to spend time with anyone. It sucked. Tony became bogged down with work to the point that he was starting to feel sick. Tony had work for SI, new equipment to build for the Avengers, upkeep of his own armour, as well as a backlog of work that Fury wanted for SHIELD. It was taking its toll on Tony. But really the problems were just starting. 

What Tony would later pinpoint as the moment that started the resurgence of his eating problems was an article that went viral. It was just a stupid article comparing the hotness of all the male Avengers. Just a stupid thing in some girly magazine that normally wouldn’t hold anything. But then again, Tony wasn’t normal. The biggest take away from the article was that compared to Thor and Steve, Tony just didn’t measure up. The article even went as far as to say that Tony had let himself go since he became Iron Man.

And that stuck with Tony. He had to fix that. He craved some sort of positive approval. The words printed on the paper were almost a perfect mirror to the number of times that Howard had told Tony that he could never measure up to Steve Rogers. So, literally overnight Tony changed up his diet. He would have a smoothie in the morning and steamed veggies and plane chicken at night. He only ate very small portions. On the outside, it looked like heathy. A normal person wouldn’t question what Tony was eating, but in truth, it just wasn’t enough to keep Tony going with all the work he did. 

And that was something else that added to the problem. Tony’s workload was insane. The work for SI was piling up, team repairs were going up every time they had a new battle to fight, and to top it all off Fury was piling on more and more work that needed to be done for SHIELD. Fury had never changed Tony’s status from Consultant to Avenger so Tony was expected to do all sorts of work to appease the beast so he could help the others on the field. Normally something like this wouldn’t stop Tony from helping anyways but Fury knew how badly Tony needed some sort of positive approval and he lorded it over Tony’s head to get him to do things.

But those things very quickly piled up and Tony found that he didn’t really have much time for anything else. He didn’t even have time to fix his own armour after fights so when the next one came around Tony ended up injured. But of course, nobody knew that he was hurt. After the fight Tony just flew back to his lab, stitched himself up, wrapped and iced his popped knee, and got back to work. There was only time for work. Things like medical attention, eating and sleeping could wait. 

By the time things were really bad Tony was only drinking a small smoothie mad by DUM-E every other day. He needed to be thinner and he needed to get work done. It was killing him and nobody noticed. Tony had become skilled with make-up over the years so when Tony did emerge from his lab to go to meetings or to deliver things to the team nobody saw the dark circles under his eyes nor the sallowness in his cheeks. Sunglasses helped to cover the emptiness and loneliness in his eyes. 

The straw that broke the camels back was a gala. Pepper had forced him to go. Something about good press and all that. Tony really didn’t want to go. Being in a room surrounded by people who thought they knew how Tony should behave and look just wasn’t appealing in the slightest.

But, Tony went to the gala anyway. If it made Pepper happy and lessened his workload just a little bit then he was going to take it.

The gala didn’t go great at all for Tony. First of all, there was a lot of finger foods out and about. Just seeing all the food made Tony’s stomach ache something awful. But all the old words Howard used to say and the words from the magazine article ran through his head. Tony couldn’t eat. Not until he was good enough. 

To make matters worse the gala was full of old people who had worked with Howard and Stane back in the day. These people heavily criticized Tony for the direction he and Pepper took the company. They wanted their weapons back while Tony wanted to focus on green tech and better accessibility to computer technology. Well, old rich people don’t like change so Tony spent eh entire night being heavily criticized, verbally backhanded, and literally starving.

It really wasn’t a good night.

It didn’t get much better when he got back to the Tower. Tony decided that he needed to at least get something in his system. He’d been good and hadn’t eaten anything in two days. He could have a small veggie smoothie before heading back to the shop. Tony made a b-line for the kitchen and missed all the other Avengers sitting nearby. He only noticed when Clint got up and knocked him on the shoulder while he was searching for a carrot. 

“What, were you starved as a child Stark? There’s no need to rush to the food. I thought those fancy parties had all sorts of stuff.” mocked Clint not knowing the real truth and Tony grimaced.

“As a matter of fact I was and I’d appreciate it if we didn’t talk about it.” Blurted out, Tony. He didn’t mean for the truth to come out but he was just so exhausted and sick but he still had so much work to do.

So many of the others immediately thought that Tony was lying for attention, but Steve saw something else. That was the first time he was able to see beneath Tony’s carefully cultivated masks. He saw the pain and fear in Tony’s eyes. He was telling the truth and something was very, very wrong.

“Stop telling lies Stark. Nobody likes a liar.” Huffed Natasha.

“Piss off Romanov. I’m not in the mood.” Snarked Tony as he began to retreat leaving the very small portion of food on the counter. Steve frowned and walked over before Tony could leave.

“Stark stay here. Obviously something is wrong but you shouldn’t take it out on the team.” Chastised Steve as he watched for a reaction from Tony. 

“I’m not sharing anything with you guys. Why the hell would you care? My past is the past and you can all piss off.”

“Come on Stark, you’re an Avenger! We need to work on this stuff as a team so we can work better.”

“No Cap I’m not! I’m not an Avenger. I never have been!” yelled Tony as his hands started to shake.

“What are you talking about? Of course, you’re an Avenger.” Spoke Steve as he looked worriedly over at Tony.

“No, I’m not. I’m a consultant. That’s all I ever have been. You can blame Ms. Spider over there. Who the hell decided to make a personality profile on someone while their scared and dying? Answer me that!”

Steve looked over to Natasha for confirmation.

“It’s true. Stark is still only a consultant. Fury hasn’t changed his status and I don’t say I blame him.”

Well, that was certainly news to Steve. He looked over at Tony and the man wasn’t even trying to hide his emotions. He looked dejected and just plain sad. Steve didn’t like that look.

“Well, I say good idea on Fury’s front. The only thing Stark is good for is his tech. Other than that he’s useless.”

The words cut Tony deep. It was like Howard was yelling at him in a drunken rage all over again. Tony didn’t even try to hide his reaction. His face paled and his hands shook. He looked like he was going to be sick. But, Tony didn’t want to deal with the others so he went to go leave. But, because he was shaking and sick he wasn’t fast enough and Steve caught him by the wrist to keep him there. Steve meant to just check-in and make sure that Tony was alright. He looked horrible! But when Steve could easily wrap his hand around Tony’s wrist he could physically feel that something was very, very wrong.

“Stark! You’re skin and bones! This isn’t ok!”

“It’s fine Cap. Nothing to… nothing to…”

Tony didn’t get to finish his sentence. He swayed on his feet and Steve was barely able to catch him in time as Tony fell to the ground and passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

Steve sat there shocked as he watched Tony resting in his bed in medical. He was worried, very worried. Tony was hooked up to all these wires and tubes and it was scary to look at. The doctor had told Steve that Tony had passed out from an almost deadly mixture of sleep deprivation and starvation. Being told that scared Steve. What had happened to drive Tony into doing this?

A lot of things began to come to mind and Steve didn’t like any of them. First of all, Steve thought back to how the team barely saw Tony around the tower. When he asked JARVIS where the man was he was always told that Tony was in his lab doing work. Steve knew that Tony was working because he was always coming out with new tech for SI, SHIELD, and the team. Others had said it was just Tony avoiding them but Steve now knew different.

The second thing was the comment Clint had made earlier about Tony being starved as a child. When Tony responded Steve could see the truth in his eyes. Tony hadn’t been lying. Something really bad had happened to Tony as a child and Steve had a feeling that that was contributing to the state Tony was in now.

Steve felt horrible. Tony had obviously been hurting. He was probably extremely lonely, he was working double-time to do all the work needed to get some positive attention, it was heartbreaking. Steve felt like a horrible leader. There were so many things he should have known and should have fixed. He should have noticed that Tony wasn’t eating and isolating himself. He should have known that Fury was holding team membership over his head and making Tony work more than he should. He should have tried harder to make sure that everyone on the team was doing alright.

He should have helped Tony to get the help he so desperately needed.

While Tony slept Steve stayed in the room and did up some reading on various things. He did some digging to try and find anything useful about Tony’s past. He couldn’t find much other than some articles saying that Tony was even smarter than Howard. What struck Steve as odd were the pictures. There was one where it said that Tony was six years old, the same picture from when Tony built his first engine. If there wasn’t an age attached to it Steve would have thought that Tony was 3-4 years old. He looked so small and skinny. He also looked very uncomfortable with Howard's hand on his shoulder. If what Tony had said earlier was 100% true then Tony must have been starved from a very early age, and that meant that Howard was most likely to blame. Steve’s blood boiled at the thought. Steve had known Howard during the war. He was a respectable man who just wanted to help, but if he’d hurt his only child Steve wished he could make him pay. 

Another thing that Steve looked up was eating disorders. Looking at things now it was glaringly obvious that Tony had one. Steve wanted information so that he could help Tony like he should have been doing from the start. All the information and pictures Steve looked at were highly upsetting and Steve felt sick as he looked over at Tony. He should have been a better leader and helped Tony before it got this bad.

That needed to change. No man left behind. 

Steve lost track of how long he’d been there at Tony’s side. It must have been a few hours at least. He was only pulled out of his head when Tony began to stir. Steve scooted closer to make sure that Tony woke up comfortable. It was the least he could do after all his discoveries.

“Hey there Stark. Take it easy. You’re not doing so well.” Soothed Steve as he went to go press the button that would fetch a doctor.

“Whah… where?” stuttered Tony as he opened his eyes and looked blearily around the room. Before Tony could say anything about Steve being there or why he was even in medical in the first place, the doctor arrived and began checking Tony over.

The check wasn’t long but the doctor had many words to say about Tony’s condition. Tony just nodded through the whole thing. He wasn’t really absorbing any information. He just felt so removed from the whole situation. After one last check-over, the doctor left and only Steve remained by Tony’s side.

The fact that Steve was there really confused Tony. He’d thought that Steve would be one of the last people who would want to be around him. After all the things said during the Battle of New York it was almost a given. And yet, Steve was there at Tony’s side after yelled a bunch then collapsed. Nothing was making sense and Tony didn’t like when things didn’t make sense.

“Why are you here?” rasped out Tony once he’d gotten his bearings.

“I’m here because I care. Stark, Tony, you’re really sick and you need help. I’m going to make sure you get it.” Stated Steve as he scooted onto the bed and sat down.

“So you’re here out of pity. You can leave now. I’ll make sure that the work is done as soon as I can get out of here.”

“No Tony!” shouted Steve and Tony hunched over a bit. Steve frowned and took a second to compose himself before he continued.

“Tony, I’m not here out of pity. I’m here because despite what Fury says you are part of the team. You are important. Tony, I’m going to make sure you get help. You’ve obviously been suffering alone for a very long time and that changes now. Tony, you need therapy.” Urged Steve and Tony immediately panicked.

“No! No! Starks don’t go to therapy! Stark men are made of iron!” shouted Tony, but the words he spoke weren’t his.

“Tony, this isn’t up for debate. You’re killing yourself and I refuse to just sit by and watch now that I know that something’s wrong.”

“And why would killing myself be so bad?” whispered Tony and Steve was shocked. He didn’t know what to say. He looked over Tony again and saw the brokenness behind his eyes. Those were the eyes of a man who had suffered and long, hard life. Steve didn’t want to see those eyes. 

“Tony, no. No. You don’t get to say things like that.” Argued Steve as he tried to keep his anger over the situation at bay.

“But why would it be such a bad thing? Nobody wants me here. They only want me for my tech or my body. I know that nobody wants me for me. I’ve known that since the day I was born.” Sighed Tony, his hands shaking a bit. Tony didn’t know where this was all coming from. He’d never been forthcoming with personal information and feelings in the past. Maybe it was the drugs in his system or the fact that he was just too exhausted to care. Maybe it was because even though Steve had said unkind words in the past, Tony still trusted him. Either way, the words Tony said made Steve upset.

“Tony… what happened to you?” whispered Steve not expecting an answer.

So when he got an answer both parties were surprised. But Tony was scared and stressed and when he’s like that he tended to just stutter out word vomit.

“Howard happened. Howard happened and he ruined my life. Maybe I was always meant to just die. He would hit me. He wouldn’t let me eat until I was useful. Jarvis, the real Jarvis, would sometimes be able to sneak me something to eat but after Howard beat me after he found out he stopped. Jarvis didn’t want me to get hurt any more than I already was. Did you know that the first time I ever tried something sweet was at MIT when Rhodey brought back a bag of cookies his mom made? The boarding school I was at before didn’t allow sweets on campus and the older kids who snuck them in didn’t want to share with the weird little smart kid. I thought I was doing better lately. I was doing so much better before New York happened. But now… I’m just not worth it. I’m not as good looking as the other Avengers, I have too much work to do and every minute I’m sitting here means work isn’t getting done. To top it all off all these people at galas keep comparing me to Howard and Stane and I just can’t anymore.”

By the end of his rant, Tony was crying and shaking and Steve was shocked. He couldn’t believe that Howard had done that to Tony. He didn’t want to believe, but the evidence was right in front of him. It was there in the way Tony was shaking. It was there with all the tubes in Tony’s veins and down his nose making sure that he had enough nutrition to not die. It was there in the faded scars on Tony’s arms and face that spoke of times in the past and no doubt there were more scars that Steve didn’t see.

With all the emotions and tears in the room, Steve did the only thing he could think of. He pulled Tony into a hug. Tony must have been feeling touch-starved because he just melted into the touch. Steve didn’t hesitate to pull him in closer.

“Shh Tony, I’ve got you. Things are going to be better now. I won’t let you get hurt again.” Whispered Steve as he rocked them back and forth on the bed.

“I don’t want to hurt anymore. Please make it stop.” Cried out Tony and Steve did his best to give some form of comfort. 

The two stayed there for a while. Tony was exhausted and upset while Steve was just upset. The words had done Tony a great injustice and it was painful to see. All Steve wanted to do was make things better, but he knew he couldn’t do it alone. Tony needed help from professionals and more so, he needed a break. He needed time to heal and not worry about getting the impossible amount of work that he was given done. Steve wanted to help Tony, so he took the first step to make sure that Tony was going to survive.

“Please Tony. Please, I’m begging you. Please let me help you. Let me help you get the help you need.” Begged Steve as tears fell from his eyes. Tony just nodded and let himself be held as he continued to shed his own tears.

About half an hour later Tony had fallen back asleep. He really needed the rest. After Steve made sure that Tony was comfortable he went to go talk to a doctor. He relayed some of the information that Tony had told him because it was a matter of Tony’s safety. The doctor was quick to agree with Steve’s want for Tony to get therapy and started to get things going for when Tony was a bit healthier. Once that was going, Steve checked in on Tony one more time before he went back upstairs to go talk to his team about what was going on.

“Barton. Romanov. I need to talk to the two of you.” Barked Steve and the two in question looked over at him from where they were sitting and finishing up breakfast.

“Wow, Stark must have really pissed you off.” Muttered Clint as he and Natasha got up to talk to Steve. 

Steve did not look amused at all by Clint’s words. Is eyes held only anger and honestly it freaked both Clint and Natasha out. They’d never seen Steve this angry.

“Take a seat. We need to talk about your recent behaviours.” Growled Steve and the two were quick to obey.

“Is this about Stark collapsing last night? He’s probably just playing things up.” Spoke Natasha with an air of uncaring.

“Or he could be down in medical suffering from severe malnutrition and sleep deprivation.” Snarked Steve but neither Clint nor Natasha looked surprised or concerned. That just made Steve angrier.

“If he’s sick it’s his own damn fault. Why are you mad at us?” asked Clint as he tried to back away.

“I’m mad because we’ve all been neglecting our teammate. And Romanov I don’t care what your stupid ass report said, Tony is one of us. He’s been overworked and nobody noticed that anything was wrong. And all your comments yesterday have only brought more things to light. I refuse to break Tony’s trust and go into details but I can assure you that he’s been suffering in silence his whole life and your comments aren’t making things any easier. I’m laying down some new rules and if you break them then you're off the team. I expect you to follow them. You are no longer going to bad mouth Tony. He does so much for this team and I’ve only ever heard you say bad things about him. If you can’t say anything nice then don’t say anything at all. Secondly, you’re going to start listening to Tony. If he says something is wrong then you’re going to believe him and go get me. Got it. I’m not going to let this team fall apart because we don’t listen to each other.” Ranted Steve.

The whole time Clint and Natasha were just nodding along. Neither really liked Tony but they refused to piss off Steve further. They just knew if they did Steve would go to Fury and make their lives a living hell. After Steve was done they were dismissed and Steve went to his room to put on a fresh change of clothes before he returned back to medical to check in on Tony. He was still sleeping when Steve got back so Steve took back up his chair and opened up his tablet to do some reading and some drawing.

When Tony woke up again a few hours later he was surprised to see that Steve was still there with him. Even if he found it strange it made him feel less lonely then he had in years.

Ans the thing was, Steve continued to stay. Tony ended up staying in medical for three weeks and Steve stuck by his side for the most part. Steve only left when Tony had a therapy session or of there was a call to assemble. They’d told the press that Tony had fallen ill from an infection and that’s why he wasn’t out fighting with the others. The public bought the lie and didn’t press for more.

And, even once Tony had put on some weight and the doctors no longer thought he was a risk to himself and was able to leave medical, Steve still stayed by Tony’s side. He helped make sure Tony made it to therapy when he wasn’t feeling well. He helped make sure that Tony at least ate two meals a day. And, surprisingly, he helped Tony in the lab. Sometimes Steve helped by listing heavy equipment that Tony just couldn’t. Other times he simply helped by letting Tony explain an idea out loud. But at the end of the day Steve made sure that Tony made it to bed to sleep.

And that was when the bed-sharing started. It wasn’t anything sexual. It was just that Tony felt safer when he wasn’t sleeping alone and Steve was a human space heater who was more than happy to help out.

That was also when the feeling started. Tony had always harboured a little bit of a crush for Steve thanks to Howard's obsessiveness when he was little. But now it was worse. Steve just made Tony feel so loved and happy and he just didn’t know what to do with his emotions. Little did he know that Steve was having some feelings of his own. Steve had always known that Tony was an attractive man. He’d have to be stupid not to see that. But now that he’d gotten to know Tony he was completely smitten. Tony was so different than the public persona that he put forth. He was sweet and kind. He was sassy and cared deeply about everything he did. Steve just wished he could have seen all of that sooner. Then maybe Tony wouldn’t have gotten as bad as he did.

Where the two differed in their feelings was the fact that Tony tired to push his down while Steve wanted to let Tony know how he felt. So, Steve went and bakes some cookies Tony mentions liking and brought them down to the lab as a surprise.

“Are those for me?” asked Tony once Steve set the plate of still warm and gooey cookies beside him.

“Of course they are.” Smiled Steve but still, Tony’s eyes fell a bit.

“Are you sure? I haven’t done anything useful to deserve them.”

“Tony, we’ve talked about this. You don’t need to be useful to deserve food. You certainly don’t need to be useful to deserve a treat every once in a while. You’re my fella and you deserve nice things.” Smiled Steve.

“You’re fella? You… want me?” whispered Tony and Steve reached out to hold his hands.

“Of course I do Tony. You’re perfect for me. I’d love it if you became my fella. My one and only.”

Tony looked at Steve with wide eyes. Steve just smiled and let his own emotions show through. He needed Tony to know that he meant what he said. He wanted Tony in his life and Tony needed to know that.

“Are you sure?” asked Tony as he leaned in a little closer to Steve.

“I am. I’m in love with you Tony Stark and I want to be with you.”

Neither one was sure who initiated the kiss, but neither cared. The kiss was perfect. It was sweet and slow and full of emotion. When the two finally pulled apart they didn’t stray far from each other. Steve was smiling like an idiot and Tony was blushing. It was perfect.

Tony didn’t get any more work done that day, but he needed the break anyway. The two just ended up cuddling and talking together on the couch in the lab while munching on the cookies. They stayed together until dinner when they went up to the kitchen hand in hand. Clint and Natasha shot them some looks that got quickly silenced by Steve, whereas Thor and Bruce just gave some knowing smiles. No words were exchanged but everyone now knew that Tony and Steve were together. 

A week later, after that fateful kiss, Tony and Steve found themselves back down in Tony’s lab. Steve was drawing in his sketchbook and Tony was glaring daggers at an email in front of him. Steve normally wouldn’t have taken any notice to this but when Tony’s hands started shaking he knew he had to see what was going on.

“What’s going on sweetheart?” asked Steve as he comes up and hugged Tony from behind.

“It’s Fury.” Sighed Tony. He’s mad because I’m behind on all the work he wants done and he’s sending threats and I just don’t know what to do.”

Tony’s hands continued to shake and Steve just hugged him close until the shaking calmed down a little bit.

“I’m going to fix this Tony. Fury is NOT allowed to treat you like this. You’re one man and you shouldn’t have to put your safety at risk just to please Fury. I’m not going to let him treat you like this.” Growled Steve as he just held Tony closer to him.

“How are you going to get him to listen? He’s Fury. He has dirt on everybody. I wouldn’t be surprised if he knew exactly what Howard did to me growing up and how he’s using that against me.”

“Just leave everything to me alright sweet thing. I’ll make it better.”

And with one last little kiss and a promise to cuddle later, Steve took off on his bike to go yell at Fury. He spent the whole ride going over what he wanted to say to Fury. He needed his words to have an impact so that Fury would stop using Tony for his own gain. That needed to stop. Once Steve arrived he bypassed security and bust right into Fury’s office, although he did spare a second to give Goose the cat a quick pet. It was bad luck if you didn’t.

“Captain Rogers. I wasn’t expecting you here today. What brings the righteous Captain America in today?” joked Fury but Steve wasn’t listening. He was angry. So very angry.

“I’m here because you’ve contributed to almost getting one of my teammates killed and that changes now.” Fury looked a bit confused so Steve continued.

“I have some demands and they are _non-negotiable._”

“And what would these demands be?”

“First I want you to add Tony Stark on as a full member. I don’t care what you’re stupid personality profile says. The man you believe Tony is doesn’t exist. He’s a valuable member of the team and deserves the privileges that come with it. Privileges like getting to FUCKING REST!” yelled Steve and Fury looked a bit baffled.

“And that’s another thing. You are going to lessen his workload now that Tony is no longer your precious little consultant. In fact, you’re only going to give him new work if I sign off on it. You’re killing him Fury and I won't have that.” Hissed Steve yet Fury retaliated. 

“Listen here, Rogers. Stark is the best out there for new tech. I’ve even got him making some new weapons for us even though SI doesn’t make them anymore. I’m not giving that resource up.”

“Tony’s practically working three full-time jobs, Fury! Between all the work for SI, Avengers work, and the stuff you keep demanding for SHIELD he barely had time to sleep let alone leave the lab to eat! This stops NOW! I will no longer have you play a hand in my boyfriend's suffering!”

Well, that was some news to Fury. He’d always prided himself of always being in the know and yet he had no idea that Stark and Rogers were dating. He could see the hated in Rogers’s eyes. Fury knew he was a dead man if he didn’t give in to the demands. He knew when to pick his battles.

“Fine. Have it your way Captain. But when SHIELD had problems with weapons and tech in the future this is all your fault.”

“Then maybe you need to find better scientists and pay them a living wage.” Snarked back Steve before he left the room to return to Tony, leaving a very concerned Fury in his wake.

When Steve got back home he told Tony what he’d done. Tony was flabbergasted. He couldn’t believe it. This was some of the best news he’d ever received. He was finally getting a break. He could finally rest and not have to worry about everything good being taken away. Tony shed a few tears at that and Steve kissed them away with a smile.

In the end, things had gotten better for Tony. Sure Clint and Natasha still may not like him, but Bruce and Thor became some of his best friends. Steve was there. He was always there. They did everything together and it made them stronger. Sure, Tony still had therapy, but he no longer felt any shame in going. He even started up a new branch of SI dedicated to affordable mental health services.

Tony was glad that he’d finally found something good. He’d spent his whole life searching for love and happiness and he’d finally found that with Steve. His workload was better, he was able to sleep and eat. He was happy. And again, having a super sweet, super buff boyfriend didn’t hurt either. They were good for each other. And when disaster struck they faced it together. Always together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was a roller coaster of emotions. Don’t forget to leave a kudo or a comment and check out all my other works. I’ve got quite a few. See you guys soon! -Shadows 

**Author's Note:**

> The next chapter will be up soon! See you then! -Shadows


End file.
